MovieChat Forums > Doogal (2006) Discussion > The Magic Roundabout

The Magic Roundabout

posted 19 years ago by bucko415
21 replies | jump to latest

Ok
So a company makes a film, gets all the actors for it. Releases it, then about a year later. It gets a whole load of new actors to replace the old voice actors, renames the film, then releases it again. WHY??

The Magic Roundabout movie came out last year in Britain. It was made purley because of the people were brought up with the childrens show in there childhood. It was filled with British actors like

-Robbie Williams
-Joanna Lumley
-Jim Broadbent
-Bill Nighey
and the voice of Kylie Minogue

so now all thats been changed is the title of the actors just so they can make a bit more money..

Im sorry but how cheap can you get..

Guys if you so badley want to see the film and can watch region 2 dvds which most people can order it from amazon.co.uk and type in magic roundabout.

http://www.the-magic-roundabout.com/main.html

[–] tomboftheunknownsoldier 19 years ago

I'm British & living in the USA.

The Magic Roundabout Television show was never aired over here, So the name would not have any meaning, as having "The Magic Roundabout" would suggest the movie is based around a carousel with special abilities, instead of around the characters of the British incarnation of "Le Managé Enchanté" from which "The Magic Roundabout" stripped the dialog & narration & was rewritten based purely from what was happening on screen, upsetting the original creators by calling "Pollux" Doogal, by making the French believe that it was a swipe on Charles De Gaulle.

To many Americans, the English Accent is hard to understand or gives an aire of superiority, and also those who would appear to us Brits as 'A' list celebrities would hardly be recognized here. The voice actors for the British release were chosen for the same reason as the US release, understandability, & primarily Box Office draw.

The "Robbie the Reindeer" Christmas shows are aired by CBS also with American voice talent.

I am certain that "The Magic Roundabout" movie would have flopped if it was released under the same name & voice talent in the Americas as it was in Britain.

And yes, I will be B*&^or%$#ing the UK version when I get the chance.

[–] Cornelus 19 years ago

Actually, I thought the US version of "Robbie the Reindeer" has a better voice cast than the English version (especially Brad Garrett & Hugh Grant) ... and I watch a LOT of BBC & UK-shows whenever possible. It's only too bad that 1 or 2 scenes were dropped from "Legend of the Lost Tribe" in the US version in order to add commercials.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Jane_Deaux 19 years ago

nevthur says:

he had a heck of a time understanding their 'Bah-stuhn' accent.

That's how "Boston" is pronounced... "Bah" like the beginning of "ball" right? Yeah.

I'm from the mid-west and everyone north, south, east and west of us makes fun of our "flat" accents. I never really understood what "flat" meant, unless they're talking about the way we pronounce everything correctly. Probably they mean the lack of any accent. Or rather any noticeable deviation from the dictionary pronunciation.

Anyhoo, I like accents. Any accent. If you're paying attention, you can understand what's being said.

_____________________

Don't confuse me with the facts, I've made up my mind!

_____________________

Ooh, update. I don't mean to say I have no accent, just a plain accent. Not implying that all American accents spawned from Missouri! Nor am I saying it's better than other accents. I read somewhere that the midwestern accent is desireable for news achors... mmm-hmm. I'm used to my accent so I don't think of it as an accent at all. Okay, enough rectification. I should just delete this whole thing!

[–] Orcini 19 years ago

"I am certain that "The Magic Roundabout" movie would have flopped if it was released under the same name & voice talent in the Americas as it was in Britain."

Yeah, that's why "Chicken Run" and the Harry Potter franchise bombed- right? Oh yeah, let's not forget "Wallace & Grommit & the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" which won an oscar for best animated picture this year...

[–] elliespen 19 years ago

The problem with that logic is that not only did both Chicken Run and Harry Potter have A-list talent in them, but they had a predisposed fan base already. Harry Potter was going to make money no matter what because everyone and their dog had read the books. Plus, you could see the actual actors, which makes it easier to understand, rather than cartoon characters where the lip movements never match up perfectly.

All Chicken Run needed to do was say "From the makers of Wallace and Gromit" and they were good to go. (Small note on Wallace and Gromit: these films succeded in using the original British performer because for the first two, the only character who spoke was Wallace, and Peter Sallis has a very easy-to-understand voice.)

But even though many of the voice performers in Chicken Run were understandable, there were moments when I couldn't catch everything being said. (That goes for some of the moments in HP, too, actually...) It's true that listening to people speak in an accent different than your own makes it harder to understand, especially if you can't see the actual person talking. Just one of those things. (That's also why I can't understand my Alabama-farm-accent-bearing grandfather-in-law on the phone.)

I'm not saying that The Magic Roundabout would have flopped, but it definitely would have been at more of a disadvantage than it will be with a cast that's more recognizable to Americans.

Will the real Beowulf please stand up and alliterate?

[–] machree 19 years ago

From the beginning, the makers of this film wanted to cast voice talent that each seperate audience would connect with -- for Britain, it had a famous British cast, and for France, it had a famous French cast (the two versions were released simultaneously). So it makes sense that, for America, it would have a famous American cast. And the new title fits an American aesthetic more comfortably. I think you just have to realize that this isn't a film that's being released for Anglophiles -- it's a film that's conducting a really interesting experiment. It's asking if an animated film can, simply by altering its voice talent, cross several cultural borders and still work. I, for one, hope they succeed.

[–] Snicker 19 years ago

I'd never even HEARD of the Magic Roundabout until I came across the British movie. I almost passed it over until I saw Tom Baker as the voice of Zeebad... I'm glad I didn't. MY GOD how I laughed!!! It is an AWESOME tribute to British childhoods. (I'm an American who grew up loving PBS, Dr Who, and the Tomorrow People. Go fig).

Anyway, I imagine Doogal is going to be a huge waste of time. Though I like the star talent, rehashing what was already a nicely rounded story with a perfect cast is ... well.. just wrong.

It'd be like having Rowan Atkinson do the voice of Woody for Toy Story, or Steve Irwin as Tony the Tiger. "Crikey, they're great, mate!" *shudders*

[–] danielwinter28 19 years ago

According to IMDB under 'The Magic Roundabout' there was a version released in the USA called 'Sprung! The Magic Roundabout'. I'm assuming this means that 'Doogal' is technically a re-release?

Also, it's a shame that no American animated films are every completely redubbed for British audiences - fair enough that they want The Magic Roundabout to work cross-culturally, but it should work both ways.

[–] birdie15 19 years ago

For some reason, the British don't seem to have much of a problem understanding ANY American accents. Scottish accents are another thing entirely...

[–] CarlyM 19 years ago

I KNEW IT! I kept thinking to myself, "That cow looks like the one from Magic Roundabout!" Weird. It's a shame about changing the cast; I really love Joanna Lumley, Jim Broadbent, and Bill Nighey :T

[–] uruseiranma 19 years ago

Ok, personally, after seeing this tonight all I can say is: Someone PLEASE tell me where I can see this with the original British cast!!

In my opinion, the Weinsteins and their associates just don't know how to bring an animated feature to our shores.

To those looking to 'Doogal' in hopes of some good clean fun in the states, the film plays as if someone decided to cram in as many lame pop-culture jokes as they could, almost like a kiddie version of 'Scary Movie.'

1)The cow charcter is once again a 'Sassy Black woman.' And people say Asians are stereotyped.
2)The whole angle to make this a kiddie 'Lord of the Rings,' straight to the rabbit Dylan muttering 'My Preeecious-just kidding!'
3)And what's more, Jimmy Fallon plays Dylan almost like a G-rated stoner, I guess it's because his eyes are always half-closed.
4)Doogal's voice really threw me for a loop. In the old cartoons I saw on Nickelodeon, he sounded a bit older. Here, he's more of a kid's age sounding.
5)Plus, Who thought Kylie Minogue would be a good voice for a little girl!?
6)All the pantomime characters (such as a moose and the train) are given brief voices, and for the moose, whenever we see his rear end, some idiot sound engineer or executive decided to add at least 1 fart noise everytime.
7)And once again-the pop-culture jokes are not funny, but just plain annoying! We have the likes of 'STar Trek,' 'Lord of the Rings,' 'Matrix,' 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' 'Humvees,' 'Bling,' and let's just say so many more that don't do anything.

We'd be better off importing the R2 DVD's personally.

A-ha-ha-ha, you're really weird!-Willy Wonka

[–] CarlyM 19 years ago

Ugh. Pop culture references have their time and place, but not when it comprises the whole of the movie, which seems to especially plague CG films (coughShrekcough). And enough with the damn fart jokes already.

[–] katja68 19 years ago

Go to www.hmv.co.uk With the exchange rate I got the 2-disc dvd for just over $23(and got the dvd 7 days after I ordered it). I'd seen the trailer for The Magic Roundabout well over a year ago, and knew I wanted to see it. I saw the trailer for the Americanized version, and literally went running to the HMV site to get the R2 dvd. From what you're saying Doogal is nothing like The Magic Roundabout. The Magic Roundabout is just a story, there are no pop-culture references, a non-farting moose, and the cutest darn dog you've ever seen(and Robbie Williams does a perfect job voicing Dougal). As I have The Magic Roundabout, I'll never see "Doogal". It sounds like they ruined it.

[–] sivickers 19 years ago

I really can't believe that they are re-releasing this film with different voices. I could understand it, if the film was in french or german or something. It would be like replacing shrek, monsters inc or any of the other "American" films with a British cast. I think we should just replace all the american animated voices with British ones from now on...

for those who think I am being petty.... well so are the producers

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Pook_Pook_Pook 19 years ago

Well you Shrek comparison makes no sense at all….

Mike Myers was born in Canada, spent a great deal of his formative years in Britain, both his parents are/were English & he has British Passport..

So a better question would be – do you think they should have re-voiced Shrek with an American??

Piers

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] bintfozi 19 years ago

I actually saw this film under the name "Doogal" over the summer in China. When the ads for it came on here in America I was so confused because I could've sworn I had seen it already. Who would've guessed that I really had seen the same exact thing 8 months ago.

[–] obscure_metaphor 19 years ago

coming from an animators point of view, i really think changing the voice actors in a same language version as the original is just a bad idea. ask any top animator (and i have) the voice acting is where everything comes from. they film the voice actors as they're reading the lines, they even borrow facial details off the actors (such as Dory in finding nemo, obviously based on Ellen Degeneres' facial features, the same goes for most animated characters). changing the voice acting is a bad idea, changing the dialog is even worse (tho im guessing they've gone back and reanimated some scenes to make this work)

as for the title..... its like calling lord of the rings "Frodo"

[–] DroopyMcCool 19 years ago

I still remember the original old magic Roundabout movie: Dougal and the Blue Cat (1970). Now that was a crazy film with a scary, trippy sequence that could have been the model for Willy Wonka's terrifying boat trip in the original choc factory flick.

Anyheck, I digress. I loved the Magic Roundabout as a kid (growing up in the UK), I loved it as a teen when I recognised the drug references, and I loved it as an adult just because Eric Thomson was a bloody genius.

I'm sure one day I'll catch this remake, but I think I'll try to seek out the UK version as I would hope they tried to retain the spirit of the original.

Cheerio!

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